Richfield Fire Department Gets New Assistant Chief

“We’re going to miss him. What’s our loss is Richfield’s gain.”

Those were the words of St. Louis Park Fire Chief Luke Stemmer on Monday. He was talking about assistant chief Mike Dobesh who, after 14 years with the department, is stepping down at the end of this week to take a job with the Richfield Fire Department.

“I have appreciated all of my time in St. Louis Park,” Dobesh said at a city council meeting, where he was recognized. “The city has been incredibly supportive throughout my career.”

Though Dobesh technically started his career with the St. Louis Park Fire Department in 1998, he actually got his toes wet in 1996, when he was a paid on-call firefighter. He liked the part-time work and soon became a full-timer.

Eventually, Dobesh took over training for the paid on-call program that gave him his start.

“He rose very quickly," Stemmer said. “He’s done a good job.”

Richfield can expect Dobesh to start in the next few weeks.